Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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many of the wounded back with them for hospital treatment. 41 Despite the obvious altruism
of the medics' actions, Snijders halted their journeys into Belgium after a few days due to a
legal quandary: the medics breached Dutch neutrality by shifting belligerent troops into
neutral territory without first asking the permission of the individual soldier and that of the
combatants, who might object to a neutral forcibly removing troops from the field of
battle. 42 Nevertheless, on 10 August 1914, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands granted
the Red Cross access to Belgium for an hour at a time to retrieve casualties from the front. 43
German and Belgian troops facilitated the compromise by moving their wounded closer to
the border,44 where they were tended by Dutch medics and, if the patients agreed, shifted to
Dutch hospitals. After treatment, the Netherlands interned the soldiers. 45 At the same time,
any wounded who had not given permission to be moved into the Netherlands were released
from internment. 46
Until early October 1914, the Dutch could ably manage the internee situation.
Once the Gennan annies lay siege to Antwerp, however, they faced an unprecedented crisis.
On 9 October, a staggering 32,067 Belgian soldiers (nearly one-sixth of the Belgian anny)
and another 1,568 British troops found themselves stranded on the wrong side of Antwerp
after a German advance. 47 The Allies preferred capture in the Netherlands to becoming
German prisoners of war. They reached the borders of Zeeland and North Brabant battle­
weary and exhausted. At the same time, around a million destitute Antwerpers fled their
beleaguered city and headed for the Netherlands, carting as much of their property with
them as possible. 48 0n their own, the civilian refugees posed a predicament of
41 H. Ch. G. J. van der Mandere, Geschiedenis vall het Nederlalldsche Roode Krllis (1867 -19 JlIli -1917) Schets
van geschiedenis en beteekenis van het Roode Krllis, zijn optreden in Nederland en in het bijzonder zijn
werkzaamheid tijdens de mobilisatie. [History of the Dutch Red Cross (1867 - 19 July - 1917) Sketch of the history
and meaning of the Red Cross, its operations in the Netherlands and in particular its work during the mobilisation]
Amsterdam: Algemeene Uitgevers-Maatschappij, 1917, p. 128.
42 Ibid. p. 129; Commander-in-Chiefto Commander l3 RI in Maastricht, 8 August 1914, in ARA, "Archieven van de
Generale Star' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. l.
43 Charpentier, "De leniging van de nood" p. 13.
44 Telegram to the Niellwe Koerier, 6 August 1914, in NIOD, "WOI Diversen o.a. 'Telegram aan de Nieuwe Koerier"
archive 618, box 3.
45 Mandere, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Roode Krllis p. 130.
46 Ibid. p. 13l.
47 Telegram from Commander British 1st Naval Brigade to British Minister in The Hague, Sir Alan Johnstone, 9
October 1914, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Star' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 75; The Times History of
the War. Volume 2, 1915, p. ll4; Lier, "Internering van vreemde militairen" p. 52.
48 No exact figures are available as it was impossible for proper counts to be taken at the height ofthe refugee crisis.
Nevertheless, from counts taken when refugees returned to Belgium or travelled on to Great Britain and France,